Iran says 11 members of Sunni militant group hanged

Tehran: Iran on Monday hanged 11 members of Sunni militant group Jundallah which claimed last week`s devastating suicide bombing of a Shi’ite mourning procession, a judiciary official said.

"This morning 11 members of those belonging to (Jundallah), who in recent months were involved in terrorist attacks in the province (Sistan-Baluchestan), fighting with police, and martyring several innocent people have been hanged in Zahedan jail," Ebrahim Hamidi, head of the provincial justice department, told state news agency IRNA.

Zahedan is the capital of Sistan-Baluchestan.

Jundallah (Army of God) is a shadowy Sunni militant group which has claimed several deadly attacks in Iran`s Sistan-Baluchestan province which borders Afghanistan and Pakistan, including a December 15 suicide bombing in the city of Chabahar which killed 39 people and wounded dozens.

Hamidi said those hanged were identified and arrested by Iranian security and intelligence forces. "These corrupt and Mohareb (waging war against God) elements... went through all the legal and religious procedures of receiving a fair and public trial," he said.

Hamidi said they were charged with "corruption on earth, fighting against God and the Prophet and confronting the sacred regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran”.

Under Iranian penal code, these crimes are punishable by death.

"Thus they were convicted and sentenced to hanging. The sentence was carried out after receiving confirmation from the judiciary," he added.

Jundallah, whose leader Abdolmalek Rigi was hanged in June, says it is fighting for the rights of the ethnic Sunni Baluchis who make up a significant population in Sistan-Baluchestan.

Iranian officials claim that the group is receiving support from the intelligence services of the United States and Britain.